‘Discrepancies’: A Spoken-Word Film Project Themed in Radical Social Justice

Topics of racism, sexism and homophobia in America have produced some of the most provocative discussions within the social and political realm throughout history. Today’s political climate is turbulent, as reoccurring incidents of police brutality, sexual violence against women and dehumanization of immigrants permeate society. “Discrepancies (An Extended Prelude For The Revolution)“, a spoken-word film project, reiterates the grievances of 21st century activist movements, such as Black Lives Matter. The tune is a combo of experimental hip-hop and low-fi, downtempo trip-hop, featuring rhyme verse that depicts solidarity and intersectionality among POC, and through verbal imagery, narrates scenes of police brutality and racial oppression.

The current revolutionary period, much like the pioneering times of the Civil Rights Movement, calls for the unification of intersectional movements to confront systematic oppression of minorities. It’s important that POC, fighting for social justice, continue to hone their impact against the struggle by linking their identities and using their cultural intelligence to mobilize the revolution. This impact is amplified when white allies acknowledge and problematize the basis of their white privilege by engaging in a lifestyle that publicly defies white supremacy to influence the current plight against the Trump administration’s undemocratic vision for America. “Discrepancies (An Extended Prelude For The Revolution)” embodies that philosophy. It also portrays a dreadful disposition among conscious POC and progressives working to overcome fear of social rejection—the fear that substituting subservience with visceral resistance to combat racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia will result in backlash from oppositional family members, friends and political structures that will create self-retrogression rather than collective well-being.

There’s a precipitating sense of lethargy that is the leitmotif of “Discrepancies” until we reach the middle of the video where visible movement is represented through dance, laughter, and at the end, a sprint into the abyss of spiritual freedom. It symbolizes the periodical ennui that revolutionaries, social activists and marginalized groups experience in general, whether resulting from a lack of resources to stimulate the revolution or one dismissing the movement altogether because of the self-inhibiting belief that one isn’t “revolutionary” enough to amplify the movement.

“Discrepancies” is an ode of camaraderie among the conscious peace peddlers, kicking back on a sunny Saturday, enjoying Afrocentric, Caribbean and Latin music and socializing about ways to combat oppression and decolonize mind and body.

“Discrepancies” opening shots were filmed in Astoria, Queens. The assembled close-ups of people were filmed in Sunset Park, Brooklyn and Bushwick, Brooklyn at Maria Hernandez Park during Mayday Festival of Resistance where we also spontaneously ran into Amy Goodman principle host of Democracy Now!

I believe that, during the developing years of our childhood, there is an innate thirst within us to rebel against authority, and as we peaks adolescence and later adulthood, for the most part, most of us have domesticated the rebel within. But when the yearning to rebel is subsumed by the desire to dismantle the powers of corrupt authorities, we have no choice but to finally rebel and join the revolution, which is vigorous enough to disintegrate the diabolic system. Edited images from the film are pictured below.

“Writer Aylin Sözen collaborated with filmmaker Chris Guinn on this project, which captures the current sentiment of conscious America through spoken-word and visual symbolism. Social justice is a prevalent theme in America. This narration forms dialogue around focal issues, such as racism, sexism and classism and how they’re seemingly interconnected by a capitalist, patriarchal regime. It creates a link between those concepts and our actual individual existences. It’s usually that we reflect on these issues as we’re executing our day-to-day routines, simultaneously stuck in a utopia/dystopia conflict, portraying the hopeless idealist or the cynical visionary. This poetic documentary piece emblematizes the idealist in training. It recognizes that some days are tepid, tedious, mentally exhausting, and others dynamic. Periodically, we shift through time like automatons, but when we’re awake, we reinvigorate the movement, which is viscerally robust when we collectively unite in solidarity. In essence, this ode is a pow-wow for the revolution.”